Thursday, June 10, 2010

Hello blogger friends, I know I'm sucking wind lately as far as consistent blogging goes, but this is part of the pattern at the end of the school year. Bare with me and we'll see if we can't get back on track. pic

So the yoga experiment is going well. I signed up for a beginner series at Yogasport here in D town. I've never really liked yoga, but have tried it a hand-full of times over the last 5 or so years. But a few months ago I did a random DVD yoga workout instructed by Baron Baptiste and he really turned me around. His workout was paced at a level that was challenging enough to keep it interesting but not so much that I wanted to give up. And his philosophy about it was right up my alley. So I googled him, and I'll be darned if there wasn't a Baptiste studio here in Dallas! I signed up for the beginner workshop and wow, I'm totally hooked.

For one thing, these people at Yogasport are the friendliest and happiest people I've ever met. It's like I'm back in D'ego hanging around the beach bums again. And that glow that you see in people when they love their life? Every one of them are walking around with it. pic

And it's not just the people. Yoga really is awesome. It's not just the hype you always hear. It really has made me a more patient and calm person even just in the month that I've been going. And I can tell a difference in my body, too. I feel stronger and more in touch with it, and even a little more loving towards it.

How is it affecting the lymphedema, you ask? Well, interestingly enough, it's made it better. Now let me say that the first few times I went the class, like all physical activity I do, the yoga made my leg swell up quite a bit. And I am still not to the level that I can go more than once or twice a week without being in significantly more pain. But as I stuck with it, the swelling began to get better and - no shit- I can feel parts of my leg that I haven't felt in 4 years or so. I gained some of the sensation back. Is that crazy, or what? pic

With the end of the school year and the promotion ceremonies and moving out of my classroom and the Talent Show and the Fun Run and such, I didn't get to go to yoga for a week or 2, and that has really a difference. But now I'm back, and planning on signing up for the beginner series all over again in July so that I can work up to 2 or 3 days a week. I'm hooked, I tell you, and looking forward to signing up for a Baptiste Bootcamp and the 40 day personal revolution program offered by Yogasport within the next year. I'm telling you- for the first time ever, I see why people become obsessed with this practice. I feel better about myself every time I go.

btw: How awesome is that 1st picture up there? You have to read the article on this lady, she's crazy awesome. You can click on the pik or click here for the Yoga Journal article. And you thought it was a joke! Bam. You just got mad served.

Imerman Angels

In Loving Memory of

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.- Henri Nouwen